Election of 1868[]
The United States presidential election of 1868 was the 1st Sexennial presidential election, held on
1868 Election Map
Tuesday, November 3, 1868. It was the first presidential election to take place after the south gained its freedom. The incumbent President, Jefferson Davis, was uninterested in running for a second term and failed to receive the Democratic presidential nomination. By 1868, Davis was extremely popular After numerous ballots, the Democrats nominated war hero Robert E. Lee to take the highest Confederate office, Former Presidential candidate John Bell decided to run again as an independent. Lee was one of the most popular men in the Confederacy due to his efforts in concluding the Civil War successfully for the Confederacy. Although Bell was buried in the electoral college, he gave Grant a good race for the
popular vote.